Bounty Hunter
by steshu
Summary: The adventures of Katherine "Kitty" Pryde aka Shadowcat as a leader of a United Nations strike force.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

The early morning sky looked clear and bright that day, the way she wanted her mind to be. It had been three days since she, Katherine "Kitty" Pryde, codename Shadowcat, had completed her latest mission for the United States government. Capturing the head of the terrorist group and destroying his well-laid plans had pleased the higher-ups in the government greatly. They had come to realize that not all mutants were bad and not to be trusted.

As she was finishing up her daily three mile run through the streets of Georgetown, Kitty thought back to how she became a federal marshal – a bounty hunter – for the U.S. government. After the events that happened on September 11, 2001, around the world, the government realized that they needed more help than what they had in their ranks. It had been suggested to them, not as a joke, that maybe people with mutant powers could help them gain control of their "problems" and make the nation strong again, maybe stronger than ever before. After much debate behind closed doors, it was decided on that they would search for one mutant who, as a test subject, could determine if this suggestion would become a reality.

After going through their known files of mutants in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, they reached a unanimous decision. The mutant, or "test subject" they would call that person now, was a person who had to be loyal to the cause of restoring freedom to their country; had to be able to defend themselves no what the situation; had to be both book-smart and street-wise at the same time; and had to be able to blend in with the crowd. Their decision - a woman who was well respected among her fellow mutants, a woman who could at one moment be solving a complex problem with her mind and then at the next moment solving another complex problem with her strength, and a woman who looked like an innocent 18 year old girl but was actually a wise 23 year old woman. The name of this woman – Kitty Pryde.

Kitty's run came to an end at the front step of her Georgetown townhouse. It had been provided to her by the government as a sign of gratitude for accepting their requests for service. She ran up the stairs to the front door, two at a time. Making sure no was around looking at her, she used her mutant powers and phased through the door.

"Never have to worry about losing the key," she though to herself. Once inside, she took off her slightly sweat-soaked sweatshirt and headed across the floor to her exercise room. Every morning, she had a routine she followed – a brisk jog at sunrise, followed by a variety of exercises in her exercise room.

She had just started to do some arm curls with some 20-pound weights when the phone rang.

"I bet I know who this is," she said out loud. "Hello."

"Oh, good morning Kitty! I hope I didn't wake you," said the voice on the other end.

"No, not at all Kristina," Kitty replied to the woman with a slight Southern accent on the other end. "What's up?"

"Well, the boss in the Finance department has requested to see you right away. Can you be here in about 90 minutes?" questioned Kristina.

"Sure, not a problem."

"Good! I will meet you in the lobby. Come prepared, and I will see you there. Bye hon!"

"Bye Kris," said Kitty, and she hung up the phone. "Well, it looks like I have another mission planned for me," Kitty thought to herself. "Let's see – 'the boss in the Finance department' – that's the FBI director, and 'come prepared' means that they want to me go out into action right away."

Kitty glanced at her watch. It read 7:40 AM. "I can get in another 10 minutes of work before getting ready to go. Nice thinking, Kris!" Kitty smirked as she reached for the weights again.

After five minutes of arm exercises and five minutes of some cool-down stretches, Kitty prepared for her trip to the "office". Turning on the water in the shower, Kitty thought about what she would wear that day, and wondered where she would be going on this trip.

After drying off from her shower, Kitty went to her walk-in closet and pulled out her "battle gear". Some people called the clothes mutants wear as a "costume" or "tights". Kitty liked to refer to her outfit as her "suit of armor". She folded it into a neat pile and placed it in her flexible attaché case. Next she put in her specially designed weapons, and finally, a couple of changes of clothes.

Kitty then proceeded to get dressed for the office. After slipping on a Nike jog bra and bike pants, she covered them with a black turtleneck sweater and black dress pants. She then slipped on her dark blue boots, which were actually part of her battle gear. Finally, she completed her wardrobe by clasping a gold chain necklace around her neck and finished the look with a cobalt blue zipper suit jacket. She zipped the jacket together, going up to the bottom of the necklace. She was now ready for the world.

She grabbed an apple from the counter in the kitchen, and a couple of Nutri-grain bars from the pantry shelf, and stuck them in her attaché case. This time, instead of phasing through the door, she opened it up and went out. After locking the door, she walked down the steps and got into her car, a Mercury Cougar, black in color. When she started the engine, the radio came on playing the Shania Twain song, "Man, I Feel Like A Woman". Kitty smiled as she pulled away from the curb, thinking to herself that this was the start of another great day.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

About 15 minutes after leaving her townhouse, Kitty arrived in downtown Washington, DC, waiting to make the final turn into the secured parking garage of the FBI headquarters. As she waited, Kitty unzipped her jacket pocket and pulled out her security badge. Once she made that turn onto the government property, she would need to have it displayed on her at all times.

Once the traffic cleared, Kitty drove her car down to the checkpoint station at the bottom of the driveway.

"Good morning, ma'am. May I see your ID please," the security guard stationed at the booth said in his normal monotone manner. Kitty proceeded to hand him her security badge. The guard looked at the badge, and then looked at it again. Suddenly, he stood at prompt attention and handed the badge back to Kitty. "You may proceed, ma'am," he said with a salute. "Have a nice day!"

"Thank you. You do the same," replied Kitty, slightly blushing.

"Yes ma'am."

Kitty clipped the badge to the collar of her jacket, and then moved the car forward a few feet, waiting for the steel garage door to open for her. She looked back in her rear view mirror at the guard going back into his booth, mouthing the word "Wow" to himself. Once the door opened, she proceeded down the ramp inside two levels to her assigned parking space. After turning the engine off, Kitty looked in the rear view mirror to make sure everything was okay with her hair, and then stepped out with the attaché case.

After closing the door, she set the alarm on the car using the remote on her key chain. The car honked it's horn, indicating that the alarm had been activated. Kitty placed her keys in the outer pocket of the attaché case, and proceeded to the stairs that would take her to the main lobby of the building.

Upon arriving at the main lobby, Kitty went to the far right side, where the main checkpoint was at. At the checkpoint, she pointed to her badge. The guard there stood up and ushered her around the metal detector, noting that her badge gave her clearance around the detectors. Shortly thereafter, she smiled at the person in front of her.

"Good morning, Kitty! Right on time as usual," said the voice of Special Agent Kristina Abernathy.

"Yes, and thanks for the extra time this morning", replied Kitty as she looked at the petite, blond-haired 30 year old woman. Kristina had been the one who had suggested the idea of recruiting Kitty into the government agency, and she had been rewarded for her suggestion by becoming the contact between Kitty and the government officials. After five years of being a secretary for one of the generals at the building, she greatly embraced this new experience. "So, what do we got this morning?" Kitty asked.

"I not sure. The Director will fill us in on it. He is expecting us shortly. Should we take the stairs?"

"If it is not a problem with you, Kris," Kitty replied.

"Not at all. I need some exercise. Besides, we need to catch up on some gossip."

As the climbed the stairs up to the Director's office on the fourth floor, they talked about the TV show "Lost", and wondered what caused the plane in the show to crash. Just as they were about to reach the door for the fourth floor, the door opened and two people – a man in his early 30's in a dark suit and a woman about the same age in a stylish pantsuit – stepped out.

"Mulder, I'm telling you for the last time. There is no such thing as aliens!"

"All come on, Scully. You have to believe. Look at what happened on that one mission we had last year. Remember, the one with ... well, speak of the devil! Kitty, it good to see you again!"

"Fox, Dana, good to see the both of you. How have been things?"

"Oh, the usual paranormal and alien encounters," Mulder said, looking at Scully. "Right, Scully?"

"Whatever," Scully said as she rolled her eyes. "What brings you here, Kitty. Another call from the Director?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure for what, though".

"Well, hopefully it will involve us again sometime," smiled Mulder. "I liked working with you, and I wouldn't mind working with Ms. Abernathy either."

"You never know. Well, we must be going. Good to see you guys again. Keep in touch!" Kitty said.

"Yeah, we will. Let's go, Mulder. Mulder. MULDER!!" Scully said in a harsh voice as she walked down the stairs.

"Oh, sorry. I must have been daydreaming." "Yeah," Mulder thought to himself as he slowly followed her down. "Working with a redhead, a blond, and a brunette all at the same time would be something."

Kitty and Kristina entered the fourth floor and went down to the end of the hallway, where the Director's office was at. At the door, they each scanned their badges through the security lock. "Enter, Katherine Pryde," said the computer voice. "Enter Kristina Abernathy."

After closing the door behind them, they were greeted by the Director's secretary. "The Director will see you now." She opened the double doors, and Kitty and Kristina walked in behind her, both eager to find out what this mission would be.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

"Have a seat, ladies," said the Director, hidden from Kitty and Kristina's view by the back of her chair.

Kitty and Kristina sat down at the two office chairs that faced the Director's large, oak desk. After a momentary pause, the Director spun around slowly in her chair to face the two women.

"Ah, good of you to make it at short notice," said the Director, a thin, pale-faced woman, who looked like she was in her fifties, but was actually in her late forties. "I hope all is well with both of you," she said in a rough voice that had inhaled too many cigarettes over its lifetime.

"Yes, it is, madam Director," smiled Kitty. "How are things with you?"

"Well, not as good as they should be. And I'm afraid not for you either, Katherine, after what I am about to tell you."

"Oh, what could that be?," Kitty stated, sitting up a little straighter in her chair and looking at Kristina, who had a worried look on her face. "Are you okay, madam Director?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," the Director said quickly. "But not some of our fellow agents. It seems that Sabretooth has escaped from his maximum-security cell at Fort Lee."

Kitty and Kristina looked at each other in disbelief. "What!," said Kristina in a loud voice. "I thought we had put him away for good last year!"

"Yes, so did I, after the work Katherine here did for us. But somehow, he managed to break through his security barriers overnight and escaped right out the front door of that place. Plenty of soldiers and agents tried their best to stop him, but he ended up destroying them." The Director reached on to her desk and picked up a piece of paper. "According to the figures I have here, he killed 12 soldiers and 4 agents, and severely injured another 40 or so more soldiers and agents combined. Word is that there hasn't been this bad of an incident at one of our facilites since the sniper went crazy over in Austin a couple of years ago."

"What would drive him to do such a thing as this?," Kristina said as she looked over at Kitty, who had a look of anger across her face.

"Well, the answer might be this. Take a look, Katherine." The Director slid an 8x11 picture over to Kitty. She picked it up, and looked at it closely. She then looked at the Director, who nodded her head sadly in agreement.

"What is it?," Kristina asked. Kitty handed her the picture. Kristina's mouth dropped in shock at what she saw. Carved on the wall of what was once Sabretooth's cell were some words. The words read "Come and get me, Kitty cat."

As Kristina put the picture back down on the desk, the Director started to speak to Kitty. "Well, I assume you know what your next mission is. The government has authorized for you to use any means necessary to capture, and if necessary, eliminate Sabretooth. Are you willing to take on this mission?"

Kitty looked at the Director with a look that could kill anything that got in its way. "Oh yeah, I willing to take this mission, and Sabretooth is going to pay."

The tone of voice Kitty used sent shivers down Kristina's back. Kristina pulled out a notepad and a pen from her briefcase, and wrote some notes on it. "Okay, Kitty, who or what do you need?"

"Right now, I only need the help of three people. These three people will join me in becoming the strike force that will eliminate Sabretooth once and for all. I'll need Wolverine ..."

"No problem. I'll call the Canadian government right after we are done here," remarked Kristina.

"I'll need Psylocke ..."

"British security office. Got it."

"And finally, I'll need you, Kristina."

"Need ... huh? Did you say me?"

"Yes, you. I think you will be perfect for this team."

"But, I haven't done any fighting in the field. I have only done desk work!"

"Hmm, Kristina. Not a bad choice, Katherine," said the Director. "She did do well in the Academy, didn't you Kristina, in self-defense and, let's see," as she pulled out Special Agent Abernathy's file from a pile of papers on her desk, "Oh yes, sharpshooting."

"Yes, Kris, you are very good," stated Kitty. "I've seen your file before. I'm surprised you never became a field agent."

"I was never given the opportunity. I got placed in the secretary pool by my instructor at the Academy, that creep."

"Now is your chance to prove that instructor wrong and provide a great service for you and your country. We know you can do it!"

"I always wanted to be out in the field. All right, you guys win. Count me in!"

"Good show, Agent Abernathy. Well, I guess that concludes our meeting. If, and when, you ladies bring Sabretooth in, those guys higher up will want to thank you personally for your work. Maybe even, the President. Good luck!"

"Thank you, madam Director," they replied in unison. And with that, Kitty and Kristina left the room, closing the doors behind them.

"Do your best, ladies," the Director thought to herself, "I fear the world may be at stake."


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

After closing the door to the office of the Director, Kitty turned to Kristina. "Go on to your office and call Wolverine and Psylocke. I will meet you then down in The Cave. Don't forget to bring your workout clothes with you. We don't have much time to waste."

"Okay, Kitty. I will meet you there." With that, Kristina proceeded down the hall to her office, located at the opposite end of the building from the Director's. Kitty proceeded to the stairway, and opened the door. After hearing the door shut behind her, she leaned over the railing at the stairs below. Taking note that no one was on them, Kitty hurdled the railing and began to fall toward the basement floor of the stairwell, phasing through any rails or steps that were in her way. Just before reaching the bottom, she floated softly to a stop just above the concrete floor. With her feet now planted firmly on the ground, Kitty opened the door in front of her and entered the dank, cold area few people in the building went to, nicknamed The Cave.

After walking down a narrow hallway, Kitty came upon a metal door that had a security latch and a card scanner next to it. Slipping her ID badge through the scanner, she took note of the small, dark object that magically appeared from the wall. It was a retina ID scanner she had installed herself. She used it as an extra security measure for the rooms that appeared behind the metal door, the area she called The Cave. After leaning over and placing her eye in the viewfinder, she heard a small beep and a clicking noise, followed by a pinging noise. Standing up again, she pulled on the handle to open the door. As the door opened, the scanner slid silently back into the wall, and Kitty proceeded into the dark void in front of her.

As she closed the door behind her, the room suddenly became bright and active. A computerized voice suddenly spoke out. "Good morning, Kitty. How may I serve you today?"

"Morning, Cerebro. Please prepare the training room and the main office. Also, Abernathy Kristina will be arriving here shortly, so prepare the secondary office please."

"Right away."

Kitty walked across the entrance room to another door labeled with her name on it. This was her office in this building, away from the other agents and only accessible by people in the need-to-know area of her business. Kitty put the attaché case on the chair just inside the office, and pulled out her battle gear. "Might as well get some training in while I wait for Kris," she thought to herself.

She then walked back out into the entrance room, and went over to another door marked 'Training Center'. After pulling open that door, she had three options to where she could go – the Action Center, which was kind of like the old Danger Room in the X-Men's old mansion; the Viewing Center, where people could watch what was going on in the Action Center; and the Dressing Room, which was like a locker room. Kitty proceeded to the Dressing Room, to change into her battle gear.

Entering the Dressing Room, Kitty proceeded to her designated changing area. Bigger than most locker rooms in the gyms she had trained in once before, it allowed her plenty of space to change and to stretch out. Kitty pulled up a bench and laid her battle gear on it. She then proceeded to take off her jacket and hang it on a hanger. Next came her pants and then her turtleneck, and finally her boots. After tossing the pants and the turtleneck in the locker behind her, Kitty began to stretch her muscles. To be as flexible as she wanted to be, Kitty always had to do stretches every few hours to keep herself nimble.

After a few minutes of stretching, it was time to put on her battle gear. Kitty unfolded the black, one-piece outfit and unzipped it until it was completely open down to the waist. Stepping into it like a pilot suit, Kitty pulled it up her body, letting it slide over bike pants and jog bra. After slipping her arms in the armholes, Kitty pulled the zipper up her body, all the way to her neck. The gear felt loose on her, but it wouldn't be for long. Thanks to Shi'ar technology, the material started to shrink and mold to her body, like a second skin. Once this process was completed, it outlined every curve of her body dramatically, and it would remain there in place, stretching with all of her movements.  The zipper that had been in her hand to close the outfit sunk slowly into the material, disappering from sight.

Kitty then leaned down and slipped her boots back on, the tops of which closed in around the leggings of her outfit. Finally, before leaving the Dressing Room, she grabbed the dark gloves and utility belt lying on the bench and carried them out to the entrance room. After velcroing the belt into place around her waist, she pushed open the Action Center door, and walked in. Hearing the door shut and lock behind her, Kitty pulled on her gloves and spoke in a loud voice to the computer. "Cerebro, begin full attack mode training, levels 52 through 69, on my mark. Stop attack mode upon arrival of Abernathy Kristina. Begin!"

With that, the once bare room began brimming with action. Kitty prepared silently for any attack that would come her way. Suddenly, behind her, stood two street thugs swinging nightsticks. Kitty lashed out with a violent motion, knocking the two thugs off balance. Before they could recover, Kitty executed a low sweep of her legs, knocking them to the ground. Pouncing like the cat she is partially named for, she leapt on top of the taller one of the two and delivered a thunderous punch to his face. Without hesitating, she then did a sidewards roll and slammed her hand in a karate chop motion across the neck of the second thug. Both thugs then materialized away, and Kitty somersaulted into position, awaiting the next attack.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something approaching rapidly. Whirling with both speed and grace, she grabbed the figure lunging at her with a knife and pushed him into the wall. Before she could deliver the next blow to the back of his head, everything around her disappeared and the lights came on.

"Abernathy Kristina is here, Kitty," said the computerized voice.

"Thank you, Cerebro. Please direct her to my office. I will speak with her there."

"Right away."


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

"I called both Wolverine and Psylocke," Kristina said as Kitty entered her office, still dressed in her battle gear. "They are both taking flights out today, and they should arrive here in Washington tonight. Logan's flight from Vancouver should arrive about 30 minutes before Betsy's from London. They are both scheduled to fly in to BWI Airport."

"Good, good. That will give them the night here to get rid of the jet lag before we go full bore into our mission."

Kristina looked at the woman across from her. She had seen Kitty in her battle gear before, but never took the time to appreciate it until now. "So, will I have something like that," she said as she nodded her head toward Kitty's body-hugging outfit.

"Yes, in fact, that is one of the main reasons I needed you down here right now. Before we get started on it, however, we need to try to locate where Sabretooth is. Kris, go over to your government computer there in that office and see if you can get any unusual reports about crimes in the area of Fort Lee since yesterday. Meanwhile, I will call some contacts I have at the fort to see what they can give me."

After about 40 minutes of searching through files and transmissions on the government computer, Kristina couldn't locate much about any crimes in the area of Fort Lee. She took her findings over to Kitty, who was just getting off the phone.

"Any luck, Kris?"

"Not much. The only thing I could get was that a Ford cargo van was stolen from a warehouse about 10 miles from the fort about 5 hours before the breakout."

"Ford van. Hmm, that might be important. This guy I know at the fort told me that someone told him that he saw Sabretooth get away in a van driven by someone else. I think we might need to pay a visit to the fort once Wolverine and Psylocke are here."

"Yeah, I will follow up on it."

"Okay, Kris, I think it is time to see what your strengths and weaknesses are. I have seen your files, and I have seen you training in the gym. I think you have potential. Why don't you go get changed and we will see what you can do."

Kristina nodded her head and headed for the Dressing Room. Once there, she slipped out of her business suit blouse and skirt, and put on her exercise clothes. They consisted of a FBI standard issue gray sweatshirt and sweatpants, and white Nike exercise shoes. Kitty was waiting for her as she left the Dressing Room and headed for the Action Center.

"Let's get some stretching in first, to see how limber you are. I know you competed in gymnastics when you were in college, so you should have some flexibility in you."

Kristina, a former balance beam and floor exercise participant, had just missed out on being on the 1992 Olympic team, finishing fourth in the competition for the three positions to the Olympics. After failing to make the team, Kristina had since then limited her gymnastics skills to her training in the martial arts, something she had loved since she was a young girl.

After stretching, Kitty put Kristina to the challenge to see how good her reflexes were. Kitty would toss a tennis ball from a variety of angles and speeds, including phasing the ball through her, to see how she reacted at unexpected attacks. Next, Kitty put Kristina to the test to see how good her martial arts were. Kristina, a recent black belt martial artist graduate of the highest degree, threw and kicked some combinations and spins at Kitty, who, of course being the highly skilled ninja that she is, dodged them all. Kitty praised her for her efforts, and reminded her that a "normal opponent" wouldn't have had a chance with Kristina's moves. Finally, Kitty tested Kristina's strength by having her attack the punching bag located in the room they were in. Kristina's results came out pretty good for her woman her size and stature.

After some cooling down stretches, Kitty decided it was time. "Okay, Kris, it's time to fit you for your own battle gear, and to give you a code name. Let's go over here," she said, pointing to a bulky contraption in the far corner of the room. "Thanks to Shi'ar technology, we can design the best protection for you. Now, stand on the foot prints there on the machine. I got a question for you, Kris. What's your favorite color?"

Kristina stepped on to the footprints and faced Kitty. "Red. Why?" Suddenly, a blinding light covered Kristina, and, then just as quickly, disappeared. "Okay, Kris, you can get off there now. You have just been scanned into the computer system," Kitty said, pointing to the screen next to where Kristina had been standing. "It is analyzing your complete skeletal system, looking for places where you might have any weaknesses, and coming up with what should be a perfect battle gear suit, your "suit of armor", if you will, for you. Now, while it is completing the process, what code name would you like to be known as?"

"I don't know. I never thought about it before. Um, how about Government Girl or something like that? Oh, I got it! How's this? G-Woman. You know, like the G-Men from the gangster movies."

"Interesting, but since you are going to be our communications expert, we should think of something else. Let's see, what about Radar?"

"Well, I guess that could work, for now. Radar it is then!"

"Okay, it's done," said Kitty, pointing to the screen. "Here it is, your suit of armor."

Kristina took it and looked it over. It appeared to be dark like Kitty's, but it had a dark red area of color by the neck of it.The words'United Nations Bounty Hunter' were printed in whiteletters on the left side of it, and a square strip of material with a government badgeimprinted on it appeared on the right side. She held it up to admire it, feeling the material in her hands."It looks like it is loose-fitting," she said to Kitty, kind of dejectedly.

"Wait until you try it on. Then you won't be saying that."

Kristina went into the Dressing Room and took off her sweat clothes. She had on beneath them a lace Wonderbra and black bikini briefs. As she put the battle gear on, she felt its warmth and smoothness of the material against her. "It feels like silk against my skin," she said to Kitty, who was entering the room. As she zipped it up, she suddenly felt that smoothness press tighter and tighter to her body. "Whoa! What's it doing!," she exclaimed.

"It is adhering to your body, becoming one with you" replied Kitty. "The material may feel soft, but it is some of the strongest material in the universe. It will absorb the impact of a bullet fired at close range, and you won't even feel it. If someone attacked you with a knife, and it touched your gear, it would break the blade and it wouldn't even pierce your skin. Take a look in the mirror, and see what else it did for you."

"Whoa! No way. They have never looked that big before.", she exclaimed, admiring the sudden increase in the size of her breasts.

"It takes what you have and enhances it, um,slightly. If you wore that upstairs, I bet you would get some attention, especially from guys like Mulder."

"Yeah, I see what you mean. Wow! He would die to see me in this.", Kristina giggled, putting a hand to her mouth as she admired herself in the mirror. She slid her hand down her chest, noticing that the zipper was now gone from the material, leaving a seamless uniform over her body.

"And, we came create all sorts of accessories that you may need for this outfit. Hats, gloves, boots, belts, and such." Kitty glanced down at the watch on her wrist. "It's starting to get late. What time did you say Logan's plane was to arrive?"

"About 6:00, with Psylocke arriving 30 minutes later."

"Let's get some accessories created for you, and thenchange and get ready to meet them. I'm sure they will be anxious to be filled in on the details of this mission."


End file.
